‘Kick in the guts’ for 1st Fleet workers

Clarance Spurrell was one of about 50 employees handed a termination notice when he arrived for work at trucking firm 1st Fleet in Melbourne on Thursday.

Letter in hand, he stood outside the gates in the rain trying to fathom how much money he had just lost.

"I've got about four or five weeks in holidays and because I've done seven years here I've got some (time towards) long service built up," he said on Thursday.

"We've been told we're not getting paid for last week or the start of this week, but as for entitlements I guess it's up in the air.

"That's probably a few thousand (dollars) done."

The forklift driver is one of about 700 full-time workers and more than 300 contractors around the nation locked out after cash flow problems forced administrators to close 1st Fleet just before midnight (AEST) on Wednesday.

Few workers had any idea of their fate until they arrived for an early shift to find locked gates.

"We've been offered cards left right and centre from different places for employment this morning – I guess I'll make a few calls and see how I go," he said.

"But it doesn't make this any less rotten.

"I have a lot of friends that I've made over the years, and seven years is a lot of dedication to put into one company only to leave with a kick in the guts."

Robert Coustley from Logical Staffing Solutions was one prospective employer taking down numbers and handing out business cards outside the factory in Melbourne's west, saying there was demand for transport drivers.

A senior employee of 1st Fleet Melbourne, who wanted to be known only as Colin, said new opportunities didn't take the sting out of the morning's news.

"Most of us are owed around $10,000 to $15,000 in entitlements," he said.

"Some of these guys have been here up to 10 years."

Beside him, an 11-year veteran of 1st Fleet, John Napier, snapped at reporters who suggested the business cards being passed around presented fresh hope.

"Where's the light at the end of the tunnel? I'm losing money," he said.

"I liked the company, I liked the people I worked with, then they do this to you."